In the light of the recent school shootings across the country, the public is clamoring for preventatives to the issue, one of which is stricter gun control, mainly increasing the difficulty of obtaining a gun.

However, most mass-shooters appear completely normal to others until the moment they begin shooting at people. They are often described as good people, or having a quiet, unassuming demeanor. The majority of those same people also obtain their weapons legally, as shown by the most recent case of the Oregon shooter, who owned 13 legally purchased weapons at the time of the shooting.

It is almost impossible to identify if a customer buying a firearm is planning a mass-murder based on the background checks required, or from talking to the person. Also, the purchaser could have bought the weapon when they were sound of mind, but later on felt the need to use it in a negative way; the Oregon gunman bought his cache of weapons over a three year period.

Gun control is not the most appropriate way to halt tragedies of this degree from occurring, since there are so many other ways that a person with evil intent could obtain a firearm. Making it illegal to carry a gun in a state, or extremely difficult to buy a gun unless one has special qualifications may seem like beneficial restrictions, but in reality, it is doubtful it would affect anyone but law-abiding gun owners. If a crazy person wants to get a gun, he or she will find a way, whether it is stealing one, or buying one illegally. If someone already intends to shoot people in a school, he or she will not care about any laws or restrictions preventing the carrying of guns in public.

There are thousands of people in the U.S. who are certified to carry firearms, concealed or not, and most understand the weight of responsibility in doing so. The insane people in the nation who go on mass-shooting sprees are not representatives of most gun owners.

Firearms are used in other than just a negative way in the majority of the gun-owning population. There have been stories of robberies or acts of violence being prevented because the house owner had a gun. Also, some people participate in firearm competitive sports, or shoot guns for leisure.

In order to prevent more losses of human life, gun control should not be used as a preventative measure. Instead, academic institutions and business buildings should be schooled in how to react during a shooting, such as with ALICE drills, as well as stronger security in the case of an outside gunman.

Additionally, because of the way school shooters are excessively mentioned after the occurrence of a shooting, the number of mass-shootings that have occurred since the Sandy Hook tragedy has increased drastically compared to before. Even with the most recent occurrence in Oregon, news and social media outlets avoided mentioning the gunman’s name, but still constantly retold his conversation with victims.

Information outlets should not focus on the gunman or his actions at all, to prevent similar incidents because the perpetrator wanted the same degree of coverage on himself.

While gun control may not prevent similar incidences from taking place, there are other measures that can be taken to inhibit loss of life.